Laura Bertram plays Trance Gemini, the mysterious purple crewmember on Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. SPACE.com’s Don Lipper spoke with the actress about hours in the makeup chair and tricks she’s learned to do with her tail.

SPACE.com: Now it looks from the publicity photo that you’ve got some makeup on. What’s that like?

LB: At the beginning it was quite overwhelming, actually. I think we started off five hours every day, because we were painting the whole body. And generally we figured out five hours is a lot of work, so we took a couple of shortcuts and decided to design new costumes that cover more.

Do They Look Alike?

Bertram sports a more terrestrial look.

So I’ve really learned to make friends with the people I’m interacting with for those hours every day. And also just learning that it can be fun becoming something so entirely different, because quite frankly I don’t think I look anything like Trance, and yet, when it comes down to it, she’s this amazing character that’s been created in a three hour time span. So you learn to get used to it.

But I have to tell you, the first few days, I went wacky. I copped out, I started to cry, it was like, "I have to leave." A total lesson in patience, and I’m stronger for learning it. So I’m grateful for them -- for learning patience, because I’ve been told I need to. Not that I’m a zen master now, but I’ll tell you, I’ve learned a lot.

SPACE.com: So in addition to the body makeup, you wear ear appliances?

LB: Yes I do, I have prosthetic ears. They’re, I guess, pointed tips, ear tips. And then I also have a prosthetic tail.

SPACE.com: You have a tail?

LB: I have a tail! I have a prehensile tail. I don’t know if you can tell in the pictures.

SPACE.com: No.

LB: When the show airs, you can’t miss it. Yeah, it’s a really interesting appendage. It does all sorts of things. It kind of does what it wants. Actually, in reality too, I’m always tripping over it.

SPACE.com: So, what is that like? Is that a dummy most of the time and then they--?

LB: They [the prosthetic tails] do have capabilities. They have one that’s animated, animatronic, so they can move it about if they want. Some of it is also digital, but most of the time, the one that I wear is the dummy. I have a flat tail that will just sort of sway with movement, and the other one that actually has a metal spine so it’s solid and it’s much more resistant. So it looks like it has form. There’s about four or five of them.

SPACE.com: So do you wear the animatronic one, or is it just used for close-ups?

LB: Yeah, that’s for kind of an over-the-shoulder thing, so it will be moving in the background but it won’t actually be attached to me. It’ll be moving independently, like it’s a full machine that they operate from below.

SPACE.com: Do you have five guys with their hands on your butt at the time?

LB: NO!! That’s what I was worried about, it’s like, "oh my God, what’s gonna happen?" No, no, it’s actually pretty decent. It’s interesting. I had to learn to walk differently with a tail.

SPACE.com: How so?

LB: Just being aware that there’s something back there, and not tripping on it. And also just moving. You have to learn to have it move independently of you, because I sometimes get tripped up in it. So just being aware that there is another part of your body that you didn’t have before.

SPACE.com: Do you find yourself leaning forward more to counterbalance the tail at all?

LB: It’s not heavy, no. There’s a back plate in the back of my costume that it’s attached to, so at first there was a little bit of weight, especially with the tail with the spine in it, but now it’s just kind of there, I don’t really even remember, until someone steps on it and I try walking away, then I remember it’s there and I’m pulled back rather quickly.

SPACE.com: Do other cast members step on your tail?

LB: Yes. Oh yeah.

SPACE.com: On purpose?

LB: No. No. Usually it’s just like, "oh, sorry Trance." It’s actually worked out really well in a couple of scenes where we’re being bullied and something and someone will step on it and I’ll grab it and whip it away and tell them, "Watch the tail." And it’s worked. Cause it has been a legitimate mistake and it’s turned out well.

SPACE.com: It’s one of those surprises that come along the way?

LB: Exactly, a little impromptu humor.

SPACE.com: Now, is your catch phrase gonna be, "Watch the tail"?

LB: I don’t know, I guess we’ll see how many times people forget. I don’t think it’s ever been written in a script, so if you ever see it on the show, at least in the first ten episodes, it’ll be impromptu.

SPACE.com: How long does it take to take the makeup off?

LB: It’s about an hour.

SPACE.com: So, it’s a total of 4-1/2 hours of makeup? Who is your makeup artist?

LB: Her name is Francesca Von Zimmermann. She’s been working in Vancouver for years and years.

SPACE.com: How did they shave two hours off your makeup? Was that just because they made your costume more modest to cover more skin?

LB: Yep. The first episode we shot was actually the third episode that’s going to be aired. And the whole costume that I wore were shorts -- like pleather shorts -- so my legs were exposed. I have, actually, 14-hole boots, so my calves were covered.

So my thighs were exposed, and then my entire back was exposed, because it was kind of a shirt that joined up in the back with strings. So my whole back was exposed, and my torso was exposed. I just had like a butterfly top, so it just covered the front part, and then my chest and my midriff was all exposed as well. So that’s full arms, full legs, and most of my torso. So it really was, like five, close to five hours.

And when that’s being painted on and airbrushed, you have to do more than one coat, so it ended up being three or four coats, and then you’d have to touch up where it came off, because whenever I moved around, the costume would rub off makeup. So, it ended up being a lot of work.

SPACE.com: Did you talk to any other actors who have had to sit in the chair for that long?

LB: No, actually, I’ve never met, or worked with anyone that has done sci fi quite like this. I had no idea what to expect. I mean, you hear stories about Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in the chair for eight hours for X-Men, and you think, "oh my God, eight hours," but to really sit there for that amount of time, it’s almost inconceivable.

But you sit there and then you actually experience it, and it’s a totally different thing. It’s like, perhaps, someone trying to describe childbirth to a first-time mother. You can describe it, but you can’t actually experience it until you do.

So, not that it’s like childbirth, God help me, no. I hope not. But no, it’s a totally unique experience, and to be fair, you have to really live it to understand. But now the whole process has actually been quite fun.

SPACE.com: So you’re about the same time as Brent [Stait who plays the alien Rev Bem]?

LB: Yeah, I’m a little bit longer than him. But generally we’re close to the same amount of time. The people that do Brent are fantastic. He has like seven different pieces that they apply, and then they airbrush it all every day, so it’s like a new piece every day. It’s not actually a mask it’s like seven separate pieces that they put on.

SPACE.com: So, what happens when you sweat?

SPACE.com: So water makes you blue, huh?

LB: Yeah. Little drips of water I’ve had on my hands and stuff have just gone baby blue. It’s really weird, I think the pink must run out of it or something.

SPACE.com: What was it like seeing yourself purple the first time?

LB: Crazy. Oh it was crazy. Even just getting the first makeup test was so crazy, ‘cause it’s so different. It’s so different. And I had some friends come and visit and they were cackling, they thought it was hilarious.

It’s fun though, it’s exciting ‘cause I do feel that once I get into that makeup I’ve changed. It’s not really Laura anymore, it truly is Trance, like a totally different thing. It’s gives me the license to be another. And I love it.